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For those of you who are not familiar with the novel, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert A. Heinlein, Simon Jester is a fictitious creation of his revolutionary characters. In the book, an authoritarian, earth-bound government oppresses the inhabitants of a lunar colony.
Like the founders of the United States, the lunar colonists decide to break free of their rulers. They'd scrawl anti-authoritarian graffiti on the walls, signing it "Simon Jester," accompanied by a little drawing of a grinning devil. Anyone who wanted to sound off could be Simon Jester- the miner, the dentist, the computer technician. He was nowhere and everywhere, always agitating against the oppressive government.
We need Simon Jester here on Earth.
Where is Simon Jester’s Café?
A while back I'd come up with designs for some Libertarian bumper stickers. I was going to get them printed and make a website to market them, but I didn't know how to build a website, (since then I've learned to build websites). Then a friend introduced me to CaféPress. Their sites are "click and build", plus I would not have to get anything printed up front- they produce the items and I design them. Also, I could expand out past bumper stickers. Then I got stuck because I couldn't come up with a name for the site. The designs sat in a folder on my hard drive for a while.
Then I found SimonJerster.org. They had logos and more slogans for downloading. I liked the little devil motif. I'd read The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, so I was familiar with the concept of Simon Jester.
I was playing with the logo and drinking coffee. One thing led to another and the Simon Jester's Café logo came to be. CaféPress has mugs and I thought it would look cool on a mug.
At this point in time, Simon Jester's Café is just a state of mind. When you sit down with friends over coffee and you serve it in one of my mugs, the slogans can bring the conversation around to Libertarian ideas- then you're in Simon Jester's Café.
I'm also trying to find a coffee roaster who could produce Simon Jester's Coffee for me. I'd be looking to have them fulfill my orders and ship them for me. I can provide labels or have bags printed. If you know of a coffee roaster who might be interested, have them e-mail me.
Recently, the idea of starting an actual Simon Jester's Café has been rolling around in my head. Maybe not until I retire, but maybe sooner than that. It might be here in NYC, or perhaps up in New Hampshire, where it could be a center of activity for people involved in the Free State Project. Coffee, muffins, wireless internet access, open mike night, Libertarian politics… I'm still doing research.
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